Some multiplayer casino games are hosted by a dealer or assistant, and some are not. A skillful, attractive, and helpful dealer adds a great deal to the entertainment experience. When the dealer can appropriately personalize dialogue with a player or a group of players, the players are better served and entertained, and the casino or gaming establishment also profits.
Virtual dealers presented on a video display associated with a multiplayer game can seem remote and mechanical. Virtual dealer interactions are generally prerecorded, directed strictly to the game action, and necessarily impersonal. At worst, such virtual dealers may repeat the same gesture or phrase too often and seem unrealistic, while at best, such virtual dealers make themselves conspicuous and are a constant reminder to players that the dealer is one step down from a live human host.
Live human game hosts are also sometimes ill-equipped to engage in personalized interaction with players. A particular human game dealer does not have immediate access to facts and history of each player that a player tracking system in a gaming establishment might have. Human hosts are typically required to rotate often, and it is difficult for humans to remember names and personal information for an entire segment of the public that moves through a casino.
What is needed is a virtual game dealer that is realistic, intelligent, and entertaining. Such a virtual game dealer would be better than a human host in several significant ways. The virtual game dealer would have access to a database of player characteristics and preferences that a human host does not have. Moreover, such a virtual game dealer would be able to observe and store learned patterns in order to provide sophisticated interactions and services.